Destry's Personal Name List

Derived from Turkish ayla meaning "halo, moonlight" (see Ayla 2).

Alara appears in Turkic Mythology as a beautiful water fairy. She lives in the lakes and rivers of the Caspian basin and grants the wishes of those she deems worthy. She is said to be capable of repairing broken hearts and making them capable of love again.

Short form of Alexandrine.

Directly taken from Latin altus meaning "to raise, to make high, to elevate". As a musical term it refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range.

Alto of Altomünster was an Irish or Scottish saint who lived in Germany.

Feminine form of Aneirin, also considered a combination of Welsh an, an intensifying prefix, and eira "snow" (see Eira 1), with the intended meaning of "much snow" or "very snowy". It was first used in the late 19th century.

Hungarian variant of Annabella and German variant of Annabel. In some cases it can also be a phonetic spelling reflecting the French pronunciation of Annabelle.

Variant of Anneliese.

Variant of Anneline.

Combination of Anna and Rose.

Dutch and Afrikaans variant of Annelien as well as a Danish and Norwegian combination of Anne 1 and Line (and thus a cognate of Annelien) as well as a Danish, Norwegian and archaic French diminutive of Anne 1 found up to the 1700s in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

From Wampanoag Âhqunah meaning "the end of the island". This is also the name of a town on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. American actor Michael J. Fox gave this name to his daughter Aquinnah Kathleen born in 1995.

Possibly a variant of Harriet. This is the name of a character from 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton.

Directly taken from Turkish ayça meaning "new moon" or "crescent".

From Turkish ay meaning "moon".

Means "fair skinned", "white", or "fair". It was invented for a character in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Biana Amberly Vacker, by Shannon Messenger.

From the English word bloom, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ("to thrive, flower, bloom").

From the name of the flower, used to some extent as a first name when flower names were in vogue at the end of the 19th century.

Allegedly derived from Old Irish óiph "semblance; appearance; beauty". It is also treated as an Irish form of Helen, although it is sometimes anglicized as Evelyn.

Derived from Biscayan and Gipuzkoan Basque elai "swallow (bird)".

Feminine form of Elan.

Elaboration of Elena influenced by Ilenia.

Used by German author Ursula Poznanski for the female main character in her Eleria-trilogy. In the character's case it was created by combining Eleonore and Ariadne.

Variant of Elfi.

Meaning unknown, possibly a variation of Liara or Eliana 1.

From German Engel meaning "angel". This was one of the most popular German girls names in the late Middle Ages.

Breton form of Honoria, or directly from Breton enor "honour" (a word of Latin origin). This was the name of a 6th-century saint, the wife of Saint Efflamm.

Either the feminine form of Evan and a combination of Eva and Anna.

A famous bearer is Irish actress Evanna Lynch (1991-) known for her role as Luna Lovegood in the movie adaptation of 'Harry Potter' saga.

Derived from Old Norse fen meaning "moor, marsh, swamp". Also compare Fenrir, which is etymologically related.

This was the name of one of two giantess sisters from the Old Norse poem "Grottasöngr", whose tale is considered to be part of Norse mythology.

Based on fayre the old fashioned spelling of the English word fair meaning "fair, beautiful", ultimately from Old English fæġer. This name was created for the series 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by author Sarah J. Maas. Feyre Archeron is the main character in the series.

Created by author Suzanne Collins for a character in the second book of The Hunger Games series, published 2009, later appearing in the 2013 movie adaptation. She may have derived it from the slang word finicky meaning "demanding, fussy".

Feminine form of Helios. This name was borne by one of the Heliades, daughters of the sun god Helios by Clymene the Oceanid and sisters of the ill-fated Phaethon. (However, only Hyginus gives Helia as one of the Heliades; other sources give different names to the sisters, all omitting Helia as one of them.)

Used by Tolkien, it appears in the Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s as meaning "starlight" in Quenya. It also appears as an element in several other names in Tolkien's works.

Coined by Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty for a character in his pantomime 'Csongor és Tünde' (1831). The origin and meaning of this name are uncertain, however theories include a truncated form of Vilma and a contraction of Ilona and Vilma.

Variant of Ylvi. This is the most commonly used spelling in the Netherlands.

From Japanese 香 (ka) meaning "incense, perfume" or 果 (ka) meaning "fruit, reward" combined with Japanese 耶 (ya), a phonetic character.

Kaya was used in Japan for girls as early as in the Edo Period (starting in the 1600s), usually spelled in Hiragana.

Short form of Kaya'aton'my', a name invented for the Native American girl of the Nimíipuu or Nez Percé tribe in the American Girl series of dolls, accompanied by books. The doll was the eighth historical character in the series and released together with the book in 2002.

It was made clear by the creators that in reality a Nez Percé girl wouldn't shorten her name, however it was used in this manner to make it easier for younger readers.

Variant of Kendrick.

Medieval German version of Katharina.

Most likely a German invention, created by combining the popular name Lena with other names that were popular in Germany such as Anja, Maja 1, Tanja or Katja. It is often claimed to be a Russian diminutive of Helena, Yelena or Elena but this seems to be untrue.

The name gained popularity in Germany, peaking in the 2010s, and has since fallen rather quickly.

Variant of Lenja.

Meaning unknown, possibly an elaboration of Lara 1, a variant of Liora, or a combination of the two. Dr. Liara T'Soni is a fictional character in BioWare's Mass Effect franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the original Mass Effect trilogy, first released in 2007.

Derived from Latin lumina "lights", ultimately from Latin lumen "light". In the English-speaking world, this name was first recorded in the 1800s.

Friulian form of Lucia and German variant of Luzia.

Invented by author Leigh Bardugo for her "Shadow and Bone" book series, first released in 2012. It is the Ravkan version of Malcolm.

Malyen Oretsev, nickname Mal, is one of the main characters of the book which is set in the fictional Russia-inspired country of Ravka.

German, Scandinavian and Slovene short form of Margaret.

From Japanese 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and 月 (tsuki) meaning "moon". It can also come from 光 (mitsu) meaning "light" and 希 (ki) meaning "hope", as well as several other kanji combinations.

This name can be used as 楢, 奈良, 那良 or 名良 with 楢 (shuu, yuu, nara) meaning "oak", 奈 (dai, na, nai, ikan, karanashi) meaning "Nara, what?", 那 (na, da, nani, nanzo, ikan) meaning "what?", 名 (myou, mei, na, -na) meaning "distinguished, name, noted, reputation" and 良 (ryou, i.i, -i.i, yo.i, -yo.i, ra) meaning "good, pleasing, skilled."

This name is very rarely given to girls, if given at all.

Nara is also used as a surname and a place name.

From native Korean 나라 (nara) meaning "country, nation, state, kingdom."

A famous bearer is South Korean singer, record producer and actress Jang Na-ra (1981-).

Means "night" in Latin. Nox is the Roman goddess of the night, the equivalent of the Greek goddess Nyx.

This is the name of the male protagonist in Suzanne Collins' young adult novel "The Hunger Games" and its sequels. Collins has never stated how she came up with the name but it has been speculated that it is related to pita bread, given that the character was born into a family of bakers, or that it could be a form of Peter.

Feminine form of Philinos. In Germany it was brought to public attention when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe used it for a character in his novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-96).

From the English word pixie, referring to a playful sprite or elf/fairy-like creature, originating from Devon and Cornwall.

Feminine form of Rajko.

Meaning uncertain. Possibly a variant of Freja or Rhea, or a feminine form of Reijo.

Feminine form of Reik.

From Japanese 麗 (rei) meaning "lovely, graceful, beautiful", 玲 (rei) meaning "the sound of jewels", 禮 (rei) meaning "courtesy", 礼 (rei) meaning "ceremony" or 令 (rei) meaning "good, law" combined with Japanese 花 (ka) or 華 (ka) both meaning "flower", 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" or 加 (ka) meaning "increase". Other kanji combinations are possible.

From Old Norse rīfa; akin to Greek ereipein, meaning "to tear down."

Short from of Veronica.

From Japanese 留 (ru) meaning "detain, fasten", 瑠 (ru) meaning "lapis lazuli", or 流 (ru) meaning "current, flow" combined with 美 (mi) meaning "beautiful". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Invented by Alexandra Christo for a witch in her book Princess of Souls, released in 2022.

19th-century East Frisian elaboration of Tale which, in recent years, has also found some usage in general German naming.

Feminine form of Tanne.

English vernacular form of Thomasina. This was one of the most popular English girls' names in the 16th century. It was used by Thomas Hardy for a character in his novel The Return of the Native (1878).

East Frisian short form of names starting with the Germanic name element þeudō "people" followed by a name element containing the letter b, e.g. burg "protection; protected place".